Hera's Secret
by Smiling Eyes
Summary: Hera, the queen of the gods keeps a secret within her heart. Until one day she makes a mistake and it gets discovered


_Have read a lot of Zeus 'n' Hera -stories here lately, and they inspired me, so I decided to give it a try me too. Enjoy! _

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****Hera's secret**

The large eagle circled three rounds around the mountain summit before it landed on top of its favourite outlook, a stand-alone marble obelisk. Half awake and half in dreams she watched the dark bird trough slightly opened lids, saw it fold its large wings and check out its surroundings. The pale light of dawn lingered, it was just minutes before the first rays of sunlight would hit the golden rooftop of the highest tower.

The king was coming home. The eagle was his usual fore-runner. She moaned silently while turning around in her large bed, she had hoped for another day of peace and quiet. But that was not to be, she had to send away the young man who was sleeping beside her between the soft silken sheet, and then she had to finish all the work she had kept postponing. All the paper-works, all the briefings, a welcome-home dinner to prepare and last but not least she had to get herself ready for her kings return.

She was his queen, but theirs was not a happy marriage.

They called her the Queen of Heaven, Hera, noblest of all goddesses, married to Zeus the mighty divine king and ruler of the skies. They ruled together from the top of Olympos, she as his second in command, and together they were invincible. But they were not happy together.

They had not been wed out of love but out of necessities. She had been the price the gods of Argolis had given to the mighty Thessalian thunder-god for not being conquered, for him to allow them a "friendly surrender". Or, if you like, the chance to put one of theirs in the heart of Olympos. If the queen was from Argos they would not be "conquered" they could hand over their banners and arms to the arriving Zeus without loosing their faces.

But why her?

She closed her eyes - recalled...

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" Hera", her father the Chief Arendon had said. "You're clever, you're intelligent and talented and most of all you're beautiful. You outshine your sisters in all those necessary traits. And haven't you always dreamt of power?"  
" As your daughter, dad. As a protector of Argos. But not... married to a stranger!"  
" Zeus will be a good husband for you, and by his side you'll be able to develop your skills, to be more powerful than you could ever dream of. "  
" But he's fearsome. "  
" He might seem so, yes. But I've met him, and I know that he's just and honest. Play by his rules, Hera, and life will be good for you! "

Sure, Hera had been tempted by the power that came with the deal. On the other hand... marriage. Not a chancellorship or some other more business"like position.

Hera remembered their first meeting. She remembered the first time she beheld his powerful aura, magnificent body and handsome face. But most of all she remembered when Zeus had laid his sky blue eyes upon her. Desire. And lust. Like one would desire a piece of jewellery or a price horse. An item, not someone to be a friend or a lover one day.

Hera remembered her wedding, she had been more beautiful than ever that day so long ago. Her mother and sisters and all the nymphs had made sure of that. Baths in sacred wells, massage with perfumed oils, an hairdo that had taken hours to complete, with pearled braids, peacock feathers, and last but not least the magnificent tiara of the ancient Gaia. The one which almost outshone the sun.

Her dress had been made from the finest silk, decorated with gems and mother of pearls (and Zeus had ruined it in seconds with his eager hands during their wedding night) and her jewellery had been the finest of handicrafts there were back then.

Hera remembered how she had walked up to the throne where Zeus sat. She remembered how he had reached for her and how she had cast aside her veils for him. She remembered how she had let him take her slender and white arm with his large hand, to claim her. And how she had uttered the words that sealed her fate.  
" Yes, I come to thee as thine wife. Yes, I take thee as mine husband. The assembled gods and goddesses be my witnesses. "

Zeus had said the same words to her and they had become wed. It has been a party of plentifulnes and many had rejoiced, while she had sat there silent by the side of the high-spirited Zeus with his booming laughter and strong appetite for everything around him. Zeus, who had taken up so much space and air that Hera had wondered if there would be any left for her. And if he had noticed her silence he hadn't shown it.

The first time of their marriage Hera had been scared and shy, but in all his majesty Zeus had never been cruel or hard, he had always been polite and showed her respect. He had treated her like an equal and a colleague, asked for, taken and used her advice. And how different her life had become! How eventful! All the places she had seen, all the people she had met. Hera had got power all right, more than she could ever dream of in fact. Zeus had given her all she wanted.

But Zeus had never become her husband - her lover. They had made love all right, but that had been all about pleasing his (as well as hers, she admitted) needs. He was excellent at those things, bringing her passion and pleasure, conjuring up bliss Hera hadn't known existed until then. But never the tender moments of closeness, of sweet nearness. When he had got what he wanted and made sure she was pleased too he had usually fallen asleep or got up and left. And he had not hesitated a moment to seek pleasures from other women beside her.

She had given him two sons, one out of duty and one by mistake. And even if Hera loved them dearly she had never felt that she shared them with Zeus. That they had been a family the way she remembered from her own childhood. Mum and dad playing with her and her sisters in the pond or the way they all used to coze around the fireplace at the end of the day.

The rest of Zeus' children came from a large number of other women. Women he met on these trips around the world when he dumped all the boring work"load of the Divine Office on Hera and disappeared for days, sometimes for weeks.

When Zeus returned from those journeys he was usually bossy and commanding and wanted all and everything to happen at once. Then Hera had to be the one to sweep the ground for him, and make sure none of the other gods made any trouble. Because then he was always moodier than usual. And Zeus' temper was nothing you played with, that was something all the gods and goddesses learned sooner or later.

Nevertheless as the years and decades went by Hera had noticed a change in herself. Something strange had happened inside of her. She didn't know when it started and what had triggered it, but she suddenly found that she loved Zeus.

That had been so hard to admit to herself! That the man she had been more or less forced into marriage with and who was still a stranger in so many ways " he was the one who had captured her heart. He was the one she cried herself to sleep over in her nights of loneliness. He was the one she daydreamed about in idle moments. Daydreamed that he would one day turn around and see her, not as just another Olympian inventory but as a woman - a person.

He was the one who every day broke her heart by being her husband, and at the same time distant like the stars.

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The tingling windchimes on the terrace shook the goddess out of her revere, the wind had picked up slightly. Another sign of Zeus' impending arrival, he always came with thunder and lightning. Hera rose and picked up her gown from the dresser.

No time for slacking here. There was so much to do, and she ought to have started yesterday. The least. There were letters to be answered, lists to be compiled and reports to be written. Heaps of paperwork waiting on her desk.

Not to mention making sure that the other gods and goddesses had done their duties and done them correct. She was after all the queen, the one responsible when the king was away. And save for two or three busybodies the Olympians were mostly a group of slackers who enjoyed partying and sleeping around as much as they avoided serious work.

The first thing she did after having said farewell to her night friend was calling for Iris, her first assistant. Iris arrived with the secretary Polliki in tow, both aware of the signs of the arriving king. Iris noted the queens wrinkled forehead and understood that this was more serious than usual, much more things to do.

" Where do you want me to start?" Iris asked as soon as she had hailed her queen good morning.

" Here! These are sketches for the letters to Amon of Egypt, Ahura Mazda and Izinagi of Nippon. And these are decrees for the kings of Thebes, Athens, Mychenae and Crete. Polliki, write them out and put on the King's desk for him to sign tonight! With the usual 3 copies to be filed. Iris, you can fetch Hermes for me. Then I'll need help with..."

Hera, Iris and Polliki worked hard all the morning, and after a light lunch Hera dismissed her assistant and secretary and sent for the nymphs instead. They were going to prepare her for Zeus' homecoming. The blue dress Athena had made her and the sapphire tiara would be tonight's outfit. Oh, if only he could...

Tears were rolling down Hera's cheeks as she soaked in the perfumed bath. She loved him so much! Why was life so unfair? Why couldn't she have married a man who loved her back? People kept saying that she had everything. They didn't know how wrong they were. Zeus was coming home tonight. And Hera didn't know if she felt joy or despair. Just to see him was a bliss, but to be reminded of his habit of looking right trough her with cold, insensitive eyes was almost too much to bear.

The nymphs were quick today, soon Hera was dressed and given a discrete yet elegant make-up. The beautiful queen of the gods didn't need much colours, just some accents to bring out the hazel in her large eyes and a sprinkle of rogue on her high cheek bones.

Hera actually found that she had about an hour left. The thunder had just started rolling in the west. This would give her time to write a letter to her mother. The was long overdo, Hera scolded herself while she picked up her pen and dipped it in the dark ink.

Nevertheless there wasn't a letter that became created on the papyrus sheet. It was a poem of love, dedicated to her husband. She had written those from time to time over the years. Written them and then torn them into pieces, to prevent anyone from seeing them.

Zeus my love  
You, the only one  
I wish my tears  
Would turn into swallows  
And fly to your nest  
And land in your hands  
I wish my heart  
To be your soft pillow  
Your warm place to rest  
After a lengthy day  
I wish my lips...

" Hera, Hera!" Iris came rushing in, the breath on top of her lungs, almost stumbling over her long, multicoloured dress.  
" What's wrong my dear?" The queen rose a newly plucked eye-brow.  
" The amendments to the Hyperborean Agenda! We should have had them done tonight, we have forgotten completely..."

" Oh faiths!" Hera sighed, and in an instance she forgot her childish scribblings. "We better get started immediately. Zeus wouldn't like to hear that we are late with those. Thankfully I have them all sketched out, we just have to write them down. "

For 45 furious minutes Hera and Iris worked with the amendments, then Iris gathered them all, counted and numbered them and rushed over to Zeus' office with them. Just in time, the lightning stroke the spire on the Main Tower and as Iris came running back up the marble staircase to the Queens Wing, the first drops of rain started to fall. Zeus was returning.

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Two clouds parted and a ray of sunlight came trough. No, that was not the sun, that was the king of the gods, arriving at Olympos. Shiny and magnificent, surrounded by a sparkling aura of invincible strength and power, but also superior intelligence and wisdom. A breathtaking sight even for those who had seen it many times before. Zeus cut trough the sky like an arrow, and landed gracefully on the tiled ground just a few steps in front of the great marble stairs to the grand portico of the main palace. Hera was there to great him as well as a handful of other Olympians.

" Welcome home my King!" Hera bowed her head to her husband.  
" Thank you my Queen", Zeus nodded to her, handed over his cloak to a waiting nymph and then he moved on, up to say hello to his grandchild Eros who was jumping up and down with excitement, while letting go of his mother Aphrodite's hand.

Not even a dry kiss anymore. Hera couldn't help wondering whom he had spent all those on this morning. Zeus was heaving up the six year old in the sky, catching the boy and tickling him quite a bit before placing him upon his broad shoulders. He spared a word for each of the others before he entered the building, talking eagerly to his daughter Athena and still carrying Eros.

" Right", Hera said to herself. "Next time I'll put a statue of myself here, spend the time working instead. He won't notice the different anyhow. Hope the dinner tonight will be fine though. "

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The welcome home dinner was held under the thousand crystal lanterns in the great Olympic hall. Grilled beef on golden platters, well done the way the King wanted it. Ganymedes was serving an excellent seasoned wine, Dionysos namedropping some district Hera forgot in an instant. The muses were entertaining with dancing and singing and even Ares, the god of War, seemed in a good mood, although he was flirting a bit too heavy with his sister-in-law Aphrodite.

Hermes was juggling with cups and knifes and Artemis was soon up dancing too. And Demeter tucked off another day until the return of her daughter Persephone who dwelled in the underworld, married to the king of the dead.

Zeus was talking about the latest Spartan development and then he ordered Athena to keep an eye on his youngest son Heracles.  
" He has a way of getting in trouble and I don't want anything to happen to him", Zeus told Athena.  
" I know just what to do", Athena assured with her usual cockiness.

Heracles, Hera sighed. Zeus had even had the guts to name the brat after her. But she hated the very thought of him, yet another bastard breaded on one of her husbands many trips. And with a mortal girl too. What had she had that Hera lacked?

After a delicate dessert of honey and almond cake, Zeus turned to her:  
" Come to me tonight. I am seeing Hephaestos about a malfunctioning thunderbolt, and then I have some things to sign and go over, but around midnight I expect to see you in my chambers. And by the way, Hera, you did a good work with the Hyperborean Agenda, I can see that there was a lot of information to digest. "  
" Thanks my King," Hera mumbled absentmindedly as Apollo picked up his lyre.

She had in vain expected to be left alone tonight, she was tired and rather uninspired when it came to lust. On the other hand she knew that the king almost always wanted her the night he returned after a long absence.

It was when she arrived in her chambers she noted her mistake. On her desk laid a random page that had been part of the Hyperborean amendments. It laid there instead of...

Faithes! He wouldn't have seen... Not so soon!

Hera didn't bother with changing her formal gown or taking off her tiara, she grabbed the sole piece of papyrus and ran out of her Wing and took shortcut trough the magnificent Olympian garden without noticing that a new batch of Demeter's marvellous roses had started to bud. Yellow this time.

Shivering she knocked on the door to The Kings Wing.  
" Enter!" Her husbands commanding voice.

Hera opened up one of the large ebony doors and slid trough, skidded over the marble floor in the hall where divine fire burned from magnificent chandeliers, and up the broad stairs to Zeus' office. Zeus was sitting by his desk. He was reading in the light of a ball of divine light that hung over his head and shone off his golden locks and handsome features.

" I... Zeus... I've fetched... I forgot to hand over this part of the Hyp..."  
" I know. I just saw what was there instead. "

The queen felt a shiver travel down her spine and her cheeks starting to burn. He had seen. He had read. He knew. She didn't even have that little secret left.

" Hera!" Zeus held up a paper in his hand, familiar scribblings with dark-blue ink, surrounded by stupid red hearts and badly drawn flying birds. "Hera, did you write this?"

There was no use denying. Hera nodded slightly turning even redder. She waited for his laughter, his scorn. How fun wouldn't he have when he told his latest girlfriend about his wife's bad poetry and teenage romancing? Hera felt salty tears sting her eyes and blur her vision as they attached themselves to her long, dark lashes. She blinked to prevent them from start running. Her secret was betrayed " by her own carelessness. If she only had been more throughout...

But no laughter came from Zeus. Instead she heard his chair scratch against the floor tiles as he rose and came over to her.  
" Hera?" he asked. "Is this... true... what you wrote here? About me?" His voice sounded strange, almost muffled.  
" I... That was just something I... "

" It is beautiful. Do you really - feel like this? Feel love?"  
" Zeus I... Yes I do. "

Then she felt his arms around her, tender and warm, the way she had never felt him before. He held her close in his strong embrace, his cheek against her soft hair.  
" Hera my darling, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I didn't know. I though you just..."  
" What?" She looked up at him, there was something new in his blue eyes, something she had never seen there before. Moist. And...

" You were always so distant. So withdrawn my love. Hiding your soul behind an aegis of steel. Never letting anyone in. Especially not me. How could I know? Why didn't you let me understand?"  
" Zeus, you would never have understood. How scared I was."  
" Scared? Why?"

" That you would mock my love. I mean every word in that poem I wrote. I so wished that you could have loved me."  
" But I do, Hera I truly do. I've loved you since the very first time I laid my eyes upon you. When they gave me a selection of seven goddesses you were the only one I saw. The others - I don't even remember their faces. I loved you so dearly. "  
" Then why..."

" Yet I never got the chance to court you properly. To secure the peace the marriage had to be done quickly. And when I saw how scared and lost you were I so wanted to postpone the whole thing, to give you room to breath, to let us get to know each other the way people ought to do before they rush into marriage. But it was all about politics. I could not postpone the wedding without humiliating the southern divine clans, and the war would have been over us. So I went trough with the ceremony hoping I'll get the chance to get to know you better given time."

" You love me? But what about... All those other women? You've been having mistresses all trough our marriage. Why, if you loved me?"  
" Because I've been hoping to forget. That one of them could make me forget you. For a little while at least. But no one could. The only remedy for my longing was holding the real you. When we made love, Hera, for a short breath I could pretend that you loved me back. When you came in my arms; I could pretend that it was love and not only lust in those lovely eyes of yours. Other times, like this afternoon, I could hardly look at you, because your withdrawn self broke my heart. Please, Hera, believe me!"

She looked up at her husband.  
" I do believe you, Zeus. I see honesty in your eyes. "  
" Then stay with me here tonight! And tomorrow night too! And all the other nights. We have so many lost nights you and I to catch up on. "  
" But we're immortal. We have all the time in the world. I love you Zeus. "  
" And I love you Hera!"

He took her face in his hands and started to kiss her, a crumbled papyrus sheet fell from Hera's hand and down to the floor. A sheet with a forgotten piece of royal duty.

¤¤¤ THE END ¤¤¤


End file.
